Owen Hargreaves To Sign for Manchester City on Pay-Per-Play Deal

On Sunday night, a close friend of mine texted me and said that City were close to signing Owen Hargreaves. I laughed and told him not to be silly.

The news is now breaking all over Twitter and in the media that he may well be close to signing for City after having completed a strenuous medical.

City have obviously learned their lesson as far as taking on players with iffy medical histories after Craig Bellamy and especially Roque Santa Cruz, so their should be no doubt in the minds of City fans that once the contract is signed, he will be fit enough for action.

Hargreaves would be an astute addition as a backup to City's squad, and it is likely to mean that Mancini has the upcoming African Cup of Nations in mind—a competition that will rob City of Yaya Toure for five Premier League games.

What United fans will think of this remains to be seen, but we can only hope they wish him well as his new team win the Premier League this season.